Chris Elsberry: Matakevich ready to hold Temple teammates accountable

Published 6:46 pm, Tuesday, August 26, 2014

It was time to figure out what went wrong, so Tyler Matakevich called the other leaders of the Temple football team and set up a meeting.

When you finish a season with just two wins, a whole lot of things must have gone wrong and a whole lot of things did, but Matakevich, a junior linebacker from Stratford, needed to know why. Was it physical mistakes? Mental? Both? So, not too long after the pain of that 2-10 campaign had faded to just a dull ache, Matakevich called quarterback P.J. Walker, running back Kenneth Harper and center Kyle Friend and set out to figure out what the heck happened.

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"Me and some guys, we sat down and we went back to the drawing board, trying to figure out what went wrong," Matakevich said at the recent American Athletic Conference football media day in Newport, R.I. "What we could have done better, things like that, and the one thing that's helped our team tremendously is we're holding each other accountable."

If that wasn't the case in the past, then it cost the Owls dearly, starting with the second game of the season against Houston. Temple led 13-9 at halftime but lost 22-13. The next week against Fordham, Temple lost 30-29 on a touchdown pass with four seconds left.

After that, things spiraled out of control. Temple led SMU 28-14 at halftime but gave up 45 second-half points and lost 59-49. The Owls lost to Rutgers 23-20 on a touchdown pass with 35 seconds to play and then gave up 10 points to Central Florida in the last 1:06 and lost 39-36. And worst of all, Temple led UConn 21-0 at halftime and lost 28-21.

"Last year, you look at our games and we played tough and we're physical with everyone," Matakevich said. "And we played tough and physical until the fourth quarter, and for whatever reason, we'd let it slip away. So this off-season, the coaches have pushed us to the breaking point and we needed that push. In order to win, you have to get through those kinds of struggles."

In addition, the team leaders, Matakevich included, needed to be more vocal in holding teammates responsible for their actions, or lack thereof.

"You don't need the coaches to tell you what you did wrong," he said. "The guy next to you should be telling you. As one of the leaders on this team, I'm definitely holding people responsible. Everyone's starting to understand that if they mess up, they're not going to hear it from the coaches, they'll hear it from us. Everyone is responding to that."

After a successful freshman season when Matakevich recorded 101 tackles -- 99 coming in his last eight games -- numbers that earned him the 2012 Big East Rookie of the Year award, the former St. Joseph of Trumbull running back/linebacker followed that up with 137 tackles as a sophomore, including a school-record 24 against Idaho. He was a first-team All-AAC selection and an honorable mention All-American by Sports Illustrated.

But in the grand scheme of things, those numbers mean nothing.

"I might have done pretty well as an individual, but my only thought process since I came to Temple is I want to win," Matakevich said. "And I want to do whatever I can to make that happen for my team.

"So, I'm just going to try and go out and prepare and do the same things I've always done and that's work as hard as I can to get ready for each game. Last year was rough ¦ but I know we're going to fight through it."

Two years ago as a true freshman, Matakevich got his first start against South Florida and made 15 tackles. The next week against UConn, he recorded 19 in an overtime win. He hasn't stopped tackling people since and has put himself into a position to possibly play at the next level, depending on whether he can continue to post the same kind of success over his next two seasons.

"You always think about that," he said. "I definitely think it's a possibility. Playing against some of these guys like (Justin) Pugh. He was a Syracuse All-American (offensive tackle) and now he's in the NFL (with New York Giants), drafted in the first round.

"Playing against guys like (Louisville's Teddy) Bridgewater (of the Minnesota Vikings') and (Central Florida's Blake) Bortles (of the Jacksonville Jaguars), I feel like I can belong there. It's a tremendous feeling, but right now, I just want to do the best I can and help Temple be successful. I can't wait to get this season started."